I Have Only Come Here Seeking Knowledge

Michael Totten is going to the Balkans. I find myself glad to hear the news. That's another part of the world that I know far too little about. I know he'll get the story and get it right.

I find myself wishing I could do what he is doing. I can't, so it's a good thing he can.

Oh Senator Reid...with mind so small...

Further evidence that Sen. Harry Reid, (D) Nevada, is either stupid or dishonest--or both:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid noted after Gates’ announcement that any war commander must be committed to “implementing major changes in strategy” if directed to do so by a new president.

“The Senate will carefully examine these nominations, and I will be looking for credible assurances of a strong commitment to implementing a more effective national security strategy,” said Reid, D-Nev.

The President--any president--outranks anyone in the military. If the President gives an order--even a stupid one--they will obey.

Or does Harry Reid really think that the military is just waiting for an excuse to stage a coup?

As for implementing a more effective national security strategy, that is their job! That's what they live and breathe. Unlike Harry Reid, who lives and breathes getting his name in the paper and blindly adhering to his failed strategy of pushing for defeat in Iraq.

Of course what he really means is that he's looking for assurances of commitment to implementing Harry Reid's idiotic strategy of defeatism and isolationism. We HAVE an effective national security strategy. What evidence does he have that we don't?! Exactly what criteria is he using for defining an "effective strategy"?

General Petraeus will do what he is ordered to do, which is why I have very definite ideas about who I want giving him orders. What I hope is that whomever that is also has the brains to listen to good advice in return.

It's quite obvious to me that one should not look for good advice from Harry Reid.

Father-n-Son at the Mortuary

My five-year-old got a remote control truck for his birthday. When fully charged it goes really fast--too fast for adequate control in our living room. It's more a matter of how many items can it bounce off in less than a minute.

So for our "date" last night I thought it would be fun to take it someplace with a bit more room. There's a funeral home nearby with a fairly large and usually empty parking lot. That would do nicely.

So we drove his truck around the parking lot until the battery ran down. His favorite part? Sitting on top of the van. The lot is big, and he's...well, five. I figured he'd be able to see better from up there. He wasn't too sure about it at first, but evidently it grew on him.

It was a beautiful Spring evening. And, knowing how kids' minds work, a good memory for both of us for some time to come.

We're Having An Ice Age...a Tropical Ice Age!

Are all the Global Warming fanatics screaming up the wrong tree? Should we be more concerned--or at least a little concerned about Global Cooling?

From Phil Chapman of the Australian:

All four agencies that track Earth's temperature (the Hadley Climate Research Unit in Britain, the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, the Christy group at the University of Alabama, and Remote Sensing Systems Inc in California) report that it cooled by about 0.7C in 2007. This is the fastest temperature change in the instrumental record and it puts us back where we were in 1930. If the temperature does not soon recover, we will have to conclude that global warming is over.

The proposed culprit? The Sun:

This is where SOHO comes in. The sunspot number follows a cycle of somewhat variable length, averaging 11 years. The most recent minimum was in March last year. The new cycle, No.24, was supposed to start soon after that, with a gradual build-up in sunspot numbers.

It didn't happen. The first sunspot appeared in January this year and lasted only two days. A tiny spot appeared last Monday but vanished within 24 hours. Another little spot appeared this Monday. Pray that there will be many more, and soon.

The reason this matters is that there is a close correlation between variations in the sunspot cycle and Earth's climate. The previous time a cycle was delayed like this was in the Dalton Minimum, an especially cold period that lasted several decades from 1790.

Of course unlike some, Chapman is willing to admit he may be wrong:

That the rapid temperature decline in 2007 coincided with the failure of cycle No.24 to begin on schedule is not proof of a causal connection but it is cause for concern.

If he then goes on to paint a rather alarming picture he can be forgiven. Global Warming advocates have been doing that for years. It's hard to put a happy face on the notion of a prolonged cold period. Plants do better in warm weather with lots of carbon dioxide. They don't do so well in cold weather. If you think the food shortages now are causing problems, just wait until the US and Canada--the breadbasket of the world--gets hit with cold weather for several years.

The Global Warming advocates claim we should dedicate resources to planning a response to increasing temperatures. I think it's only fair that, given the mounting evidence, we ask that resources be applied to planning for the opposite. To quote Chapman quoting Oliver Cromwell, "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken."

Birthday Bash

Just for the record let me state that throwing a birthday party for five-year-old boys is not the same as a birthday party for five-year-old girls. It's like the difference between a 4.0 scale earthquake and a 6.0 scale earthquake.

We threw a party for our middle boy yesterday, and invited four friends. We've had several of these boys over before, but never at the same time. Seemingly mild-mannered kids suddenly become loud, energetic, and lose all attention spans. Fortunately it was only an hour and a half. We managed.

Special thanks goes to my sister who sent us a "Here Comes A..." series DVD a few years ago for Christmas. We had a firefighter theme for the party, so "Here Comes A Firetruck" was perfect. About half an hour before the end of the party things were quickly spiraling toward a five-way tantrum, so we pulled out the DVD as our ace in the hole.

Worked like a charm. They sat still and quiet for twenty minutes. It was great! Saved our sanity and possibly the party. Thanks, Sis!

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

In a campaign season rife with hypocrisy I still have to call Obama on this one:

“So the problem that we have in our politics, which is fairly typical, is that you take one person’s statement, if it’s not properly phrased, and you just beat it to death,” he said. “And that’s what Senator Clinton’s been doing over the last four days.”

Four words, Senator: McCain-Iraq-100-Years

If you're not part of the cure, you're the problem. Or is purposely misrepresenting someone's words somehow excused?

Worthwhile Films

We watched "Why Did I Get Married?" for our date night this weekend. I chose it primarily because Orson Scott Card highly recommended it. Since I've come to value his opinion on many things (as you've no doubt noticed) I decided to take a chance that I also agree with him on entertainment.

We do on this one, at least. Though the movie is a little gritty and frank at times, it is everything a movie should be. It comes labeled as "Black Entertainment", but that's largely irrelevant. Perhaps I don't get all the black subtext, but so what? I'm pretty sure I got what the move was about, what I was meant to get from it. And perhaps I got to understand a bit how the black community is different. I don't think that's a bad thing, either.

Because for one thing, the black community is a faith-based community, and that's a good thing. This movie openly and unashamedly talks about religion and God and living the way you're supposed to. Characters are allowed to give lengthy declarations of faith, and give God the credit for the good things that come from that faith. It's refreshing, and it's about time.

It's a movie with good people trying to do the right thing--and those who are not are not shunned, but not given any comfort in their sins either. One character is almost unredeemably selfish and mean, and though his friends stick with him, they don't have any problem letting him know that they do not approve. An amazing example of hate the sin, love the sinner I wish I could emulate.

Anyway, it's a good movie; funny in spots, sad in spots, uncomfortable in spots, happy in spots--it's a lot like life, and it covers some broad, important ground truthfully. It's worth renting.

Great Name For A Blog

I found this out on I Can Has Cheezburger today:

Cream of Angry Soup

I'm tempted to go lock down "Cream of Angry Soup" as a blog name, but then I can't imagine what sort of stuff I'd post there.

It's All Relative

From National Review Online:
Go see the comparison chart, but in 1996 the Democrats were calling the economy the healthiest it's been in three decades. Today they're calling it the worst jobs record since Herbert Hoover.

The actual facts show a different picture. Not that we can be bothered by those. We have an election to win.

Fun With English

While watching General Conference yesterday one speaker told a story from his Vietnam War experiences, which included loading the wounded soldiers into choppers. My daughter leaned over and asked, "Daddy, why are they putting the soldiers into the chopper?"

It took me a moment to realize that the problem was with the word "chopper". So far in her short life her only experience with a "chopper" has been when the tree trimmer came to chop up the willow tree that blew over on our house. He put all the branches into his chopper.

She was quite relieved to find out that they were loading them into helicopters to take to the hospital rather than running them through a chipper.

Bush Listened, People...uh...Glistened?

I, too, am tired of hearing the old meme "Bush Lied, People Died!". It's not true, but let's never let the truth get in the way of soundbites. That sounds so much better than "Bush Listened To People Who Were Later Proven Wrong!"

But since I don't have a national column, I'll leave the refutation to the professionals (Norm Podhoretz in the Wall Stree Journal).

It used to be that the history is written by the victors. Now-days they're not even waiting to see who won before they try to rewrite it.

Life Imitates Art, Mass Panic Ensues

I know I'm not the first person to note the surreal quality of musical theater: people are having a normal conversation when all of a sudden music plays from nowhere and everyone starts singing and dancing. It's okay, because everyone on the stage is in on it, so we don't really notice.

But what happens when the part of the "townsfolk" is played by actual townsfolk? Behold the Food Court Musical! (Hat tip: Orson Scott Card)

It's not the greatest performance around, but it's a hoot! And the townspeople turn in some Oscar-worthy performances!

--

O.S.C. also posts an interesting essay on Barak Obama and Rev. Wright, and on Hillary vs. Michelle Obama through their senior theses. I don't know if he's changed my mind any, but he's added some perspective. That's not a bad achievement, either.

Fun With Spam!

I check my spam box now and then just to make sure nothing important got stuck there. This morning I realized I'd missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime.

From: Job Openings
Re: DEVIL, great pay!

Tempting (no pun intended), but no. It may be a fun job, but as I understand it, the long-term outlook is not good. Besides, this is definitely one job where I would want to know, "Why is this position open?"

Signs of the Seasons

It's becoming obvious that you can tell what season it is by how many trips I make to Home Depot in a month. I'm pretty sure that pattern analysis would indicate that I make very few trips during Winter months, an enormous surge in Spring, then tapering off through Summer into Fall.

It must be Spring.

I made another trip last night to get some more composter materials to finish the production run. And we need a new hose. We hooked the old one up on Saturday to water the strawberry transplants and found out we've sprung a serious leak.

So I found myself driving home last night in a rainstorm, watching the lightning illuminate the western half of the sky, and listening to NPR, who was doing a show with the soundtrack to the new Battlestar Galactica series and the composer's explanations of why he used the instrumentation he did (taiko drums and ancient instruments as much as possible). I've never seen the new series. I find myself wanting to.

It was a somewhat surreal moment, and I felt strangely alive.

Date Nights and Genocide

Both my wife and I have said before that we should watch "Hotel Rwanda". This weekend we finally did. If you're looking for a "feel good movie," this isn't it. But it's an important movie, and I say that without any sarcasm. Many movies act important. This one is.

The movie is an eye-opener on so many levels. The characters and situations display the whole spectrum of humanity from its foulest depths to its most noble heights. We in the West really have no clue. We have a hard time believing the world could be that way because we live such insulated lives.

It's so easy to believe it can't happen here. Don't bet your life on it.

It was not a movie one can watch and forget. One aspect of it or another has been gnawing on my mind ever since. I've been questioning who I am, what I would be willing to do, and what I'm capable of. Hard enough questions in the context of my current, cushy life. Much, much harder in the context of the movie. Even more difficult in the context of the movie and my religion.

The movie is meant to make us think, and it's certainly done that.

It's Only A Trash Can

I've got the supplies to make my composters. Now I just need the time and the space. We've been getting a fair bit of rain lately, which makes working outside difficult. Working inside could be a bit noisy and messy--and subject to close supervision by cats and kids. Perhaps tonight I'll get a chance to give it a try. I think everyone at the store thought I was crazy, but they at least gave me good advice on the practical details. I hope.

Spring officially starts today. At least I think that's what the Google logo was trying to tell us today. I'm ready. Bring on a little bit warmer and drier weather and I'm so there.

I know, before long it'll be too hot and too dry, so enjoy it while I can.

Attack of the Replechauns

My two-year-old was telling us all about the "replechauns" over breakfast today. I found it rather cute. My oldest has gone hog-wild over St. Patrick's Day. She spent much of the day yesterday, with her brothers' help, making little paper shamrocks, pots of gold, and leprechaun hats that they'd sneak around the house and attempt to "surprise" their mother and me with. She even set up a treasure hunt.

Her reach exceeded her grasp, however, and before she went to bed she had to delegate some of her plans to her mother and I. To me she bequeathed the "making of the sign." She'd drawn letters for a sign, and I was supposed to cut out the letters and attach them individually to a string to hang up across the top of our stairwell. I colored and cut them out, but instead pasted them to cardstock, drew some extra thematic elements and hung it. It seems to have passed muster.

In other news, though, I seem to have contracted Khan Syndrome; as in "You've managed to kill off nearly everyone else, but like a poor marksman you keep missing the target!"

No, I haven't killed anyone. In my case I've managed to buy just about everything else, but I keep missing the compost bin. You see, my clever design to build composters into each of my planter beds didn't turn out as well as I'd have liked. We're going to remove that feature to secure some more garden space.

Instead we need to find some compost bins that will work. The way our yard is arranged there's really no place to build a big one like we had at the old house, so I've got to come up with something smaller and/or portable.

The other night I took the boys with me and went to Home Depot to see what they have. They don't. But I bought some solar yard lights and a bulk pack of canvas yard gloves. Then we went to a local garden/pet store chain. They had two models, both as expensive as all get-out, with not much capacity.

Saturday I took my older boy and we set out again. We went to a larger farm/ranch/home chain. They don't have anything...yet. We can't wait. I've got to get the compost out of the way so my wife can start planting things. So we went to a local nursery. They don't have anything. We finally ended up at Lowe's. They don't have anything, either, but by that point I was hatching plans to make my own.

I had hoped to pick up the materials I needed. Instead I ran out of time. But as we were leaving I noticed a chipper/shredder. It was electric. It was inexpensive. It was on clearance. It was the only one left in the store. I bought. I took it home. I demo'd it for the kids. It's nice. It's very nice.

And it's not THAT unnecessary a purchase. It will help with yard waste and making our composting efforts more successful. But still, I've spent over $200 in my pursuit of a composter so far and we don't yet have a composter.

Upping the Awwww Factor

They say Congress' approval rating is the lowest it's ever been. I can believe it, after their Daylight Savings in Early March maneuver. Curse them!

In related new, this morning our two boys slept in, and it was starting to look like they wouldn't even be up before I left for work. I was brushing my teeth before heading out the door when two sleepy-headed boys in flannel pajamas padded up to the bathroom door, wanting a hug and kiss before I left.

I was only too happy to comply. My boys give good hugs, though the two-year-old's are sometimes in short supply. He must have been especially sleepy this morning. It was quite a long hug.

The Ghost of Service

A few weeks ago we upgraded our DSL connection from 256 kbps to 1.5 mbps. Or at least we thought we did. Call it the placebo effect--at first I thought it was indeed faster, though I was a little disappointed, expecting it to be markedly faster. Over time, though, I'd come to the conclusion that it there really was no difference from before. Yet both my ISP and the phone company were charging me to price for the faster service.

Last night I had some time to sit on tech support lines. I called the ISP first--not because I suspect the problem was on their end. Quite the opposite, really. I have high confidence in my ISP. I don't think they've ever told me wrong. In fact I was counting on them to tell me correctly so I'd know what was going on. They ran a few quick tests and decided it was the phone company that was the problem.

So I called the phone company. Sure enough, they'd updated my billing, but had not actually adjusted my connection speed. They did so while I was on the phone. Yay! Hooray! I can watch YouTube videos without interruption!

The motto of our phone company is "The Spirit of Service". If by "spirit" they mean "something insubstantial, even mythological" then I suppose they're correct.

My ISP, on the other hand, rocks. When I called in to find out what was wrong with my connection previously (my modem kept freezing up) they not only diagnosed the problem correctly and helped me resolve it (bad modem from aforementioned phone company-who denied having a problem), they actually refused to sell me a new modem. They'd tested their latest batch from the manufacturer and found them to have unexpected problems. They advised me to call back in a few days when they hoped to have a new, good batch.

In short, they refused to sell me something that would not ultimately satisfy me. They apologized for being unable to meet my needs immediately, but I was far from upset. I was all the more determined to buy from them, because I knew I could count on whatever I did buy to work.

And then they proceeded to inform me that I could upgrade my connection speed by six times for less money than I was currently paying. They were restructuring their rates, and if I was willing to move up to the next level it would save me money (and cost me more from the phone company, but it's nearly a wash). Gee, let me think about this a moment....

I don't think I've ever had a company voluntarily offer to charge me less for more. They could have left me on my old service paying the higher prices for years before I might have noticed. They didn't.

I can't recommend Fiberpipe Internet enough. I don't have to call them very often, and when I do I can honestly say I come away "delighted" by their service.

Some other company needs to undertake a Qwest to improve their service, but I'm not naming names.

So What's Up?

The weather outside is exhibiting extreme Spring-iness. My cabin fever is nearing terminal.

I'm still listening to Missy Higgins on her website while I wait for her CD (autographed, no less) comes in the mail.

I'm still working my way through "Young Bucks" and liking what I'm reading so far. Many of the ideas sound fun for me to do--forget the kids!

I've resumed watching Babylon 5 after a involuntary hiatus. Last night I hit the episode where the fourth season really starts to heat up. Good stuff.

Waiting for my tax refund so I can pay what I owe on state tax.

We've got our tickets booked for a great family vacation this summer--I think. We used an agent this time, as she promised she could save us money. Perhaps she has, but when I can't be entirely sure I actually have tickets I'm starting to sour on the deal.

My middle child has his kindergarten orientation today in preparation for this Fall. It won't be that long before my wife is all alone during the days--well, except for the two cats and the dog.

My gaming group meets tonight, and another weekend is upon us. Yay!